Category Archives: Series Post

As I mentioned before, I wanted to try to work harder on getting these up and running again. So here’s an update post on everyone and what’s going on.

Today when I was changing their food and water, I let the budgies come out for some flying and exercising. Kasper and Froot Loop were both out and about after a few minutes, and Koko wasn’t far behind. She looked like she wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, so I decided to entice her to come out with millet. That didn’t exactly work out so I just took her out by getting her to step up and gently cupping my hand around her body so she wouldn’t hurt herself if she decided that she didn’t want to come out. It worked, so they were all out together after about 5 minutes.

They actually were all very happy to be out and seemed totally comfortable sitting together on their old (travel) cage. The smaller cage is on top of a type of cabinet that is maybe 1 1/2 feet away from the bigger cage itself, and is close to being level with it so the budgies always like to fly their whenever they come out of their cage. They were preening and chirping away up there happily between flying and causing trouble for about 15 minutes until I finished moving things around in their cage, then I lured them back into their cage. They were all pretty cooperative with me today, so we are making some progress.

Koko still does the same trick with holding onto the cage with one foot then trying to step up with the other. She is really a clever little one.

Froot Loop is getting a bit more tame. Kasper and he both fly to my hand for some millet spray now. Sometimes they even fly to it when I don’t have millet spray, then they realize there isn’t any treat and take off. It’s funny to see how motivated they can get by food, I wonder if I can find anything else that motivates them.

These posts are becoming few and far between, so I will have to try harder to get these going again. 🙂

Today I did a full clean-out of the cage, and the budgies were let out because of this. I lured them out with millet spray first, then I set them out onto their small carrier cage so that they could just hang out. They were content to be up there for about an hour just preening and sun-bathing, which is a good sign that they are getting more comfortable with coming out.

Froot Loop is becoming more and more tame, but Koko is still wary and only using one foot to step-up. She is so clever sometimes. Kasper is also getting a bit better, but still not as tame as he used to be. Hopefully tomorrow I can get a chance to take them out again, but for now they are just enjoying their clean cage and treats.

I couldn’t get any pictures because the camera wasn’t co-operating. It was also dead when I found it, so I had to recharge the batteries while I was preparing the food for the birds. This really bugged me because when I went to give the birds their food; they were actually following the dish around until I set it down and I could have gotten a good picture out of it. It’s funny because they never, ever have shown that much interest in fresh foods.

I decided to try setting the dishes outside of their cage and opening the cage doors so that they could come out and eat. Froot Loop came out cautiously, but sure enough he went flying straight for the food. What a beautiful sight to see! He has such a talent for flying, it’s so amazing and graceful. Kasper doesn’t have many flight feathers yet because of his molt and the same goes for Koko, that’s why it surprised me when I saw Froot Loop gliding very smoothly down towards the food.

They all came out one by one. I had to take Koko down because I didn’t want her crash landing anywhere. Their mouths were stuffed and crumbs were stuck all over their faces. It was really fun, and the birds didn’t even take off when I went about fixing their dishes. It was a special moment in my attempts at getting them comfortable with being out of their cage again, and I’m so happy to be typing this right now. 🙂

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On a side note, the new dog house came today. My Dad thought that it would better for Rollie, who is our eldest dog at the moment, so we ended up giving it to him. It is such a convenient house! The door has a floor mat stapled over with a line cut up the middle for him to get in, and the hay inside is sure to keep him cozy until the end of winter. It is so much bigger and better than his old house, and he has been spending the majority of his day snuggled up inside. I’m glad that Rollie is finally getting some special treatment. He’ll be 12 next November 9th, so he’ll be 84 in doggy years!

I decided to let the birds out for a bit today while I was doing some homework. They didn’t seem to be interested in coming out. I had to weigh Koko though, so when I took her out, the other two joined her when she climbed back to the cage door. They sat there for a bit together, but then they just sort of climbed back in and kept put. It seemed like it was a slow day, so I just decided to close them back up and wait until a better time.

I need to get myself some millet spray so that I can start training them, but so far Kasper had gotten a bit better and more comfortable with stepping up without any, so I’ll see how it goes. Although I do think that it would be good to give them some positive reinforcement, so I’ll probably pick some up this week when I get a chance.

Koko isn’t afraid of our hands, she just knows that we will end up bringing her out of the cage when she steps up, so she tries to trick me by holding onto my finger with one foot, and holding the cage bars with another. She’s the smart one! 😀

A new month and we already took a huge step towards my goal! I’m so happy right now, Kasper and Froot Loop came out all by themselves and flew around the room for a bit. Koko was even sitting on her swing for at least a half an hour before she thought of jumping back in the cage. Koko was even preening herself up there!

I think I remember writing that Koko hasn’t grown her flight feathers in yet. Well, today I found out that one really big feather has finally started to grow in. 😀 Finally! I can’t wait for Koko to be able to fly again, the exercise will be good for her. Koko is usually the one that wants to take off somewhere, but she always just goes fluttering down to the floor. Hopefully she will regain her strength in her wings so that she can enjoy their free time out once again.

Today the birds did very well! Kasper and Froot Loop actually flew a few laps around the room, but I think it was because they got startled when Koko tried taking off so fast. Even though Koko’s wings haven’t grown their feathers in yet, it doesn’t stop her from climbing all over the cage, so that’s what she usually does when she comes out.

Kasper is making progress with stepping up, but he still has long way to go. He’s getting more nippy lately, but the good thing about budgies being so small is that their bites usually don’t hurt that much. (Except for nesting hens!)

Tomorrow I will be giving them a break, so I will resume The Cage Chronicles on the 31st.

So today was Day 1 of The Cage Chronicles. Right now I have two of the cage doors open, and I’m watching to see what the birds’ reactions are. They seemed quite comfortable with being around the cage doors. Kasper actually went for a fly a few minutes ago, and when I brought out Koko to weigh her I set her on a swing that I hung from the ceiling, and she stayed there for a while quite comfortably. Froot Loop was also occasionally hopping on the cage doors to look out for a bit.

Once Kasper noticed that she was up there, he got curious and came to the cage doors to see what was going on. He was watching her for a bit, then decided that he wanted to be up there with her, so he flew over to her. But once he landed on the swing, Koko started jabbing away at him trying to get rid of him. He almost fell off because he was hanging upside down, then he retreated back to the cage.